The moment that 20-year-old Eric Carpenter-Grantham of Silver Spring had prayed for finally came to Annapolis this year, when both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly passed the bill that he and his mother had championed.
“Eric’s ID Law” will allow Maryland residents with “non-apparent disabilities” to opt in to a program that will place a butterfly emblem on their state ID or driver’s license.
That symbol isn’t just a decorative flourish. It will indicate to anyone looking at it that the holder of that license or ID has a disability that isn’t immediately obvious. That could include deafness, autism, developmental disabilities or a mental health issue.
Linda Carpenter-Grantham, Eric’s mother, explained the idea for the butterfly license came after the two had a hard conversation after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020. Eric has autism, and his mom explained to WTOP that as the mother of a young Black man with a disability, Floyd’s death left her worried.
After their conversation, she explained that Eric, a teenager at the time, “was in tears, he was crying, and he said ‘Mom, we’ve got to do something.'”
Eric told his mother that he had an idea: “I would like to make something to go onto the ID so that the police will know that me and my friends have autism so that they won’t hurt us if we ever get stopped,'” Linda said.
Eric, who has plans to become a pastor, said he “was praying to God” to send him the right symbol to use.
“We were thinking about different things like a star,” he said.
But then the butterfly magnets they had on their refrigerator at home came to mind.
“So I said, ‘Let’s do a butterfly. The butterfly represents hope, peace, freedom and change,'” he said, and that became the centerpiece of their campaign.
“We just want to thank every single person who supported this bill from Day One!” Eric said.
His future plans include going to college to get a degree in political science, and to eventually become a pastor.
“We’re just waiting for the date when the governor will sign the bill, and we’re super excited to stand there and watch him sign it and receive the ink pen!” she said, referring to the custom of passing the pens used to sign bills into law to the people who worked to get the legislation passed.
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